February 16, 2026
Red Lion Chambers’ latest edition of FOCUS examines the case of Zhimin Qian — the architect of a multibillion‑pound Ponzi scheme in China and the central figure in the UK’s largest ever crypto asset seizure, valued at £4–5 billion.
The article follows her flight from China and attempts to launder 61,000 Bitcoin through high‑value property purchases and luxury spending in Europe, and the extensive investigative work that ultimately led to her arrest in 2024.
Max Baines in FOCUS shines a spotlight on the significant challenges faced by law enforcement in tracing crypto assets across borders, the implications of new regulatory reforms and the complex question of how and when seized assets should be realised – and then distributed among competing claimants.
Gillian Jones KC and Max Baines were instructed in this case by the Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Directorate of the CPS. Read more here
Read the full FOCUS here
To receive the Red Lion Chambers Fraud Newsletter and FOCUS fraud blog each month please subscribe here
February Focus author: Max Baines
RLC Counsel: Gillian Jones KC and Max Baines
Editor of FOCUS: Ed Vickers KC
Editor of The Fraud Newsletter: Faras Baloch